Casey's Heart
by LorLiz
Summary: So you've heard braking up is hard to do, but for Casey that was the easiest part. Preview inside.
1. Preview

Casey's Heart

Preview

_Casey sat at her desk staring at her computer as tears tumbled from her eyes._

Shows Casey hitting the mouse button slowly

_It was hard to delete every last e-mail he had sent her_

Shows her breaking down completely

_But a year later what will happen when her inbox shows a fresh e-mail from him _

Shows Casey dropping the smoothie she had in her hand 

"_Lizzie I need to talk to you." _

Shows Casey pacing in her apartment taking on the phone 

"_I know I made a big mistake but..." _

Shows Derek leaning close to Casey's face

_Some memories hit hard _

Shows Derek and Casey laying on Casey's bed when they were teens

_They shared a lot of firsts _

Shows them as teens, Casey pounding her fists on Derek's chest

_Including the first time Casey was cheated on _

Shows Derek kissing Kendra

_He's back in her life and she has fallen for him all over again_

**Look For Casey's Heart Coming Soon**

**&**

**Keep your eyes pealed for The One I Can't Love**

**Also check out:  
Unfinished Love: The Camping Trip **

**& **

**Unfinished Love: Living the Arrangement**


	2. Chapter 1 The Beginning

_Casey POV _

There I sat at my computer deleting everything he wrote me. How could he? We had been so in love! Or so I thought. My phone rang and I rushed to get it. The caller id read Sam.

"Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Casey, hey, are you okay."

"Yeah, um I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine, you want to come over and talk about it?"

"Yeah, I'd like that, be over in a sec."

We hung up.

I grabbed my keys and left.

With in ten minutes I was knocking on Sam's door.

"Hey," he said welcoming me in, "let sit."

"Thanks, I need to vent."

"So what exactly happened?"

"Where do I start? Derek and I have been together since our senior year in high school, 5 years and last yesterday I left him only for 5 minutes to use the washroom and I come back to him and Kendra making out."

"He loved you, are you sure it was his fault?"

I nodded

"I can't believe it."

Sam put his hand in hands.

I broke done right there on Sam's couch. He put his arms around me and held me close. I cried into his shirt.  
"I want him back, but it hurts so badly!"

"Casey, he did something that is awful and unacceptable, but is it unforgivable?"

I nodded.

I sat in his apartment that night, all we did was talk and I cried.

It was 8 o'clock was the doorbell rang. Sam got off the couch and answered the door. Emily brushed past him to the couch. "Casey, hey, it's okay." She said hugging me. Sam looked confused. "I can explain, when you called I had been talking to Emily on MSN and forgot to tell her I was leaving." I explained. "I figured she was over here." Emily replied. Sam nodded understandingly as his cell rang, "Its Derek." "Put it on speaker." I said with an evil grin. He pressed the speaker phone button.  
"Derek, hey"

"Hey Sam"

"What's up?"

"I messed up, big time."

"I know"  
"How?"

"Emily told me."

"Oh"

There was a long pause

"Well I better go."

The line went dead.

I had to leave for work at 10. When I arrived I put on my lab coat and grabbed my clip board. "Dr. McDonald, paging Dr. McDonald, your needed in the Emergency Ward." said the loud speaker. I headed down towards the Emergency Ward. An ambulance zoomed to the entrance. I got a glimpse of the first person coming on a stretcher down the hall. It was someone from the hockey team.

A year later I sit at my desk with my head resting on my arms. "Dr. McDonald there's someone here to see you, should I send him in?" The receptionist, Diane, asks. "Go a head." I say standing up. "Hey baby." Sam says coming up to me. "Hey," I say kissing him. Sam is my boyfriend of 6 months. "So you want to go to lunch?" he asks. "Sure," I say slipping off my lab coat and letting down my hair. As we walk out the door I yell back at Diane, "I'll be back at 1!" That gives me an hour to eat.

Sam pulled up to Nicky's around 12:05. Nicky's is a diner that was down a dirt road. He comes around and opens my door from me, we walk hand in hand up to the door, which he opens for me, "Ladies first." He says. I laugh and walk in. "Casey! Sam!" Nicky says walking up to us. "Hey Nicky" I say giving him a hug. "You just missed Marti." Nicky says, over the years he has become like part of the family. Sam and I sit in our normal booth and Nicky brings us over regular food. As we eat Sam keeps staring at me, it's really getting on my nerves. "What are you staring at?" I ask. "You." He says making me smile. _Why doesn't he just stop! Derek never stared at me like this! Sure there were a few quick glances or I'd catch him staring for a moment and he would look back down at his food. I mean this is seriously bugging me! _I think. "Sam, would you stop?" I ask. He shakes his head 'no'. "No? Derek never stared at me and I liked it that why but I mean you just keep watching me!" I snap. Sam halts in mid bite, "What do Derek have to do with this?" he asks. "Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought him up, but come on this is really bugging me!" I say. "So I bug you and Derek didn't?" Sam asks getting angry.

The door to the diner bursts opened. "Hey Derek thanks for bringing me back I can't believe I left my purse." Marti says. "No problem." Derek says. I feel the back of my neck getting hot; it's rising to my face. "Hey Derek" Sam says with the same anger in his voice. "Hey Sam, what's up?" Derek asks nearing the table. "Oh well my girl friend is just comparing me to you." Sam says getting up and walking off. I can feel Derek coming closer, knowing him he is trying to think of who I am. Then Emily walks through the door. "Jenny, there you are!" She says pushing past Derek and grabbing my wrist. She takes me outside. "Thank you so much Em!" I say. "Hop in I'll take you back to work." She says knowing that Sam brought me here and I didn't have a ride back. "See you later Em." I say getting out of the car and heading back into the hospital.

The day seemed to drag on and on, but I can't remember much that happened after lunch. I'm just glad to be home. I log in to my yahoo account. One new e-mail, I click my inbox and there I see an e-mail address I know like my own. _What to do_, I wonder. I open the e-mail.

_Dear Casey,_

_I'm sorry about causing whatever problem I caused between you and Sam. Yeah, I know it was you at the diner. You're the reason I came into the diner. I saw you and Sam talking, then he seemed to get mad and I know how bad it can get when he gets mad. Were you really comparing me to Sam? Well, anyway I was hoping maybe we could go someplace and talk. I really want to hear from you soon._

_Derek Venturi_

Here I sit again at the computer on the verge of tears. I pick up the phone. "Lizzie I need to talk to you." I say when she answers. I tell her everything. "E-mail him back, say you'll go to dinner with him to talk, answer hit questions. Now I have to go." She says hanging up. I sit back down at the computer.

_Dear Derek, _

_It wasn't your fault Sam and I got into a fight. I had been tell him that you never stared at me all through a meal and I liked it that way, but he always stars at me, every single move I make! Yes, he did get mad, but he'll have to deal. _

_Casey McDonald_

I slowly hit the send button.


	3. Chapter 2 Email Blog

_Dear Casey, _

_I can't believe him. Do you know why he was just staring? Were you the only two in the diner at the time? I know I sound pretty nosey right now, but I am trying to help. So do you want to go out and talk? _

_How have you been? How long have and Sam been together? Do you know how Ed and Liz are? They haven't talked to me since we broke up. I know why, but still it would be nice to hear from them, you know what I mean? Hey, if you feel up to it or think that you want to talk or what ever will you meet me in our old chat room? I go there a lot and lock it so no one can get in. It saved our old conversations. One time Lizzie popped in. but when she saw that I was there she popped right back out. Here's my number if you want to call: 343-1551. _

_Derek Venturi_

_Dear Derek, _

_You sure do write a lot of questions. I think he was staring at me. No there were other people in the diner. I'll have to think about the going out thing. I've been fine, I guess. We have been together 6 months. Liz and Ed are fine, engaged, but fine. Maybe sometime I'll see if I have time to get into the chat room. I'll call you if I need to. _

_Now it's my turn to ask the questions. How have you been? Why did you e-mail me in the first place? Where have you been for the last, I don't know, year? How's Kendra?! _

_Casey McDonald_

_Casey, _

_I'm okay, no where near fine, but okay. I e-mailed you because seeing you made me think and I just had to contact you. I've been around, I was at the hospital a couple of times, to see people. I don't talk to Kendra, she isn't worth anyone's time and she's not worth what I lost you for. _

_Derek_

_Derek, _

_What you lost me for? Since when did you talk like that? Anyway, I'm going downtown tonight, I'll be at City Park around six, if you want to come. Here's my number if you get lost: 415-514. _

_If I don't see you there I'll be home around 6:20 and will get in the chat room around 6:30. I you want to talk at home: 880-410. _

_Casey _


	4. Chapter 3 My First Days With Derek

Here I sit on a bench in City Park with shopping bags at my feet. I glance at my watch 5:59. _Do I even want him to show? _I see Sam walking out of the shop across the street. Here he comes, _Oh no!_ "Hey, Casey" He said putting his arm around me. I push him off. "Don't 'hey Casey' me!" I say. "Oh come on babe." He persists. "No!" I say and glance at my watch 6:01, "I have to go." I grab my bags as a very handsome man walks up to us. "Hey Case." He says with a smirk. It couldn't be? Could it? This well toned, maple haired, for lack of a better word, God, is Derek! "Hey… Derek?" I say slowly. The God nods. "What are you doing here?" Sam snarls. "Case," I wince, "Casey and I are going to catch up on things." "Oh I see you're cheating on me with _him_!" Sam says. "Actually, after what you pulled yesterday I don't think it would be considered 'cheating' and after what he did to me I don't plan on 'cheating' on anyone with him." I say angrily. "Come on Casey." Derek says grabbing my shopping bags and walking off with me close in suit. "Thanks, um… you think I could get a ride?" I asked embarrassed. "Sure, but if you don't mind me asking, how did you get here?" Derek questioned. "I took the bus, again." I say looking at my feet. "Follow me." He says leading me to his car. He throws my bags in the back and opens my door. "Why, thank you." I say smiling up at him. "Your welcome my lady." He says smirking.

We're halfway to my house when we break down. _Lucky me_. "So much for being home by 6:20." I mumble as Derek walks up to my window. "Well it looks like we're stuck here until morning or until a tow truck spots us." Derek says leaning his elbows on the sill. "That's nice." I say reaching into one off my bags and pulling out new laptop, old laptop, and new and old internet cards. "Want to use one?" I ask. He nods and walks around to his side of the car. I place the old internet card in the old laptop and hand it to him. "Thanks." He says flipping the laptop open and logging onto the internet. I did the same. We sat in silence for 20 minutes then Derek spoke up. "Why don't we see if we can get into the chatroom?" I nod and open my favorites. Secretly I had kept the chatroom in my favorites file and checked up on it every week or so. I watch Derek maple leaf icon pop up signally that he had entered the chatroom and then glance at my own icon, it was the same as a year ago, Derek had me in his arms. Tears spring to my eyes, but I blink them away and browse the sample pictures. There was no picture in the new computer worth putting as my picture. "Hey, Case…y do you want me to send you a picture or are you keeping us as your picture?" Derek asks. "Send me the family photo please." I say and wait for the file to pop up. When the file final came in I set it as my picture and reentered the chatroom, that's when Derek gasps and my breathe catches in my throat. There was no way to change our usernames. Derek's is _Casey'scatch4life_and mine is _Derek's__girl07_.

The Chat;

_Casey'scatch4life has entered the chat (CC4L)_

_Derek'sgirl07 has entered the chat (DG07)_

_Edwin'sdimondring21 has entered the chat (EDR21)_

_Lizzie'skisses has entered the chat (LK)_

_EDR21: I see you haven't made new accounts or Casey got suckered back in. _

_CC4L: Hey! What's that supposed to mean? _

_DG07: We didn't want to get new accounts, but as you can see I changed my picture. _

_LK: Yeah but it still has Derek in it. _

Derek looks over at me; I'm hoping he can't see my face.

_CC4L: Come on! It's got you too Ed! Why don't you just lay off? _

_EDR21: She's right next to you isn't she? _

_CC4L: Yeah_

_DG07: But it's not what you think. Lizzie you told me to e-mail him, so I invited him downtown. _

_EDR21: Oh God! _

_Edwin'sdiamondring21 has signed out_

_Lizzie'sKisses has signed out_

_Casey'scatch4life has sign out _

_Derek'sgirl07 has signed out_

I shut my laptop and cuddle into the seat. Derek stares at the computer screen for another twenty minutes before shutting it down head leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

I wake up at 8:00 to find Derek no where in sight and me in the car which is now parked in front of a house. _No! _It's Derek's house. I look at the frosted window and then at the fully cranked heater. As I'm starring at the heater Derek comes out of the house and knocks on the window, when I look up he signals for me to come in the house. I slowly remove the computer from my lap, place it on the floor board, slip my coat on, and get out of the car. Derek wraps an arm around my shoulders, seeing my coat is thin, and walks me into the house. There was a fire going in the fireplace and the table was set and filled with breakfast. "Have a seat." Derek says pulling out a chair for me. I sit and give him a nod. He sits in a seat across from me. I look at my plate, waffles, sausage, and orange slices. "You remembered?" I ask surprised. "I lived with you for 3 years and was in a relationship with you for 5 years, I'm not going to forget your favorite breakfast." He says grinning. I smile back pick up my fork. Derek tries to start a conversation, "So when is Lizzie and Edwin's wedding?" "2 weeks." I reply. "So there is no chance I'll get an invitation?"

"Not a"

"So who all's going?"

"George, Mom, Me, Emily, Sam, Kendra, Shelton, Lauren, Jamie, etc."

"I see"

"Hey, you want to go with me, as my +1? I mean I didn't intend on going with anybody and if someone doesn't take you you're not going so."

"Thanks."

We sit in silence for a few minutes before I turn to look out the window. "Damn it!" I mumble under my breath, "Mind if I say for a while?" "Not at all," He says looking out the window. As we finish our breakfast and clean up silence falls over the house again. Once I finished loading my dishes into Derek's dishwasher I sit down on the couch in front of the fireplace. The blizzard that was taking over the town doesn't seem have too much of an affect on the temperature on the inside of Derek's home. "You warm?" he asks, I can tell he's avoiding saying my name. I nod, "Can we talk?" I ask. He takes a seat by me and looks me in the eye, "Listen Casey, I know what I did was wrong, but I didn't know how important you really were to me until you were gone. That came out wrong, I knew you were apart of my life, but I didn't know you were a part of me. Again that…" I intercede, "You talk way too much." We both lean in as our lips are about to touch my cell phone brings us to reality. I pull away and flip my cell open, "Hello?" "Sam I don't want to talk to you." "No Sam!" Derek looks in my eyes and I nod. I press the speakerphone button and Derek begins to talk, "Case, baby, who is that, come back to bed, please?" I blush. "Casey, was that Derek?" Sam asks. I respond with, "Coming Derek." And then I hang up. I laugh at the statement Derek made. "What, did you expect me to let you talk to him when he caused you so much pain?" Derek asks. "Hey, I'm talking to you aren't I?" I ask through giggles. He smirks.

It's been 6 hours sense Sam called and Derek and I are in the middle of our 3rd movie. First we watched Night at the Museum, and then we watched Starsky and Hutch, and now You, Me, and Dupree. "I'll be right back." Derek says getting up from the couch and heading down the hall. I snuggle into the couch and stare at the TV.

_Flashback: _

_Derek and I were sitting on the Venturi/McDonald's couch watching My Best-friend's Wedding. Halfway through the movie Derek gave me a soft kiss. I gave him a harder kiss. Soon we were making out on the couch, Derek picked me up, carried me to my bedroom and so on. _

_End of Flashback_

As I come out of the memory Derek sits back down on the couch. The movie credits begin to roll. "What time is it?" I ask. "4:10." He replies. "Man! Now what do we do?" I ask. "Want to go to the game room or library or something?" Derek asks. "Ooh, library?" I repeat. "Yeah, it's kind of big too, follow me." He says grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hall. At the end of the hall stands a staircase which we rush up and into the first door we see. "Here it is." He says. "Jeeze, kind of big my ass, this place is huge!" I exclaim. "Over here is the history and study section." He says walking me over to the section labeled Casey. "Hey, I'm offended!" I say playfully hitting his arm. "Fine, go look in the Derek section." He says laughing at me. I walk over there and one this catches my eye. "You have a Dasey scrapbook?" I question warily. "Yeah, I figure why throw away memories, well good ones that is." He says looking down. "Well, want to look through it?" I ask. "Sure," he says sitting down on the window seat. I join him and open the scrapbook. The first page has a picture of me and Derek holding hands and walking through the park, my sweet 16, Lizzie and Edwin's party, and me after the cake I had been baking that blew up on me and Derek. I laugh at the last picture at look at Derek, "What did the cake taste like? I was too embarrassed to taste it." "Chocolate, whip cream, and lemon, yum." He replies licking his lips. We turn the page. The page is covered with pictures of our anniversaries. The picture of our first anniversary is of the dining room table covered with a white tablecloth and rose petals, with 2 candles in the center. I tear up at the next photo. It is of me blindfolded and Derek leading me by the hand to a pond.

_Flashback:_

_"Derek, where are you taking me?" I asked. "Shhh, just walk." He said. We walked in silence for a few minutes and then, we stopped. "Close your eyes?" he demanded kindly. I closed them and then felt the blindfold lifted off my eyes. He grabbed my hand again and walked me a few more steps. "Open them." He said. My eyes shot open. In front of me was a beautiful pond, with a picnic __blanket in front of it with a candle in the center and a picnic basket off to the side. The sun had just set and the only light we had was the candle. "Oh my god, Derek, its amazing!" I exclaimed__giving me a hug and planting a kiss on his mouth. He chuckled and sat down. _

_End of Flashback_

"You okay?" he asks looking me in the eyes. "Yeah, um fine," I sniffle, "just a little flashback." "Me too" He says, "I know I made a big mistake, but…" he leans in close to my face. _Oh my god, do I want this? Should I back away? Should I finish the gap? __What do I__…?_My thoughts are cut off by the scrapbook hitting the ground. We both jump back. "I'll get it!" Derek says getting off the window seat and picking up the book. "Um, where's your bathroom?" I ask. "Down the stairs, first door to your right," Derek replied opening the book again.

Run down the stairs and go left. I open the first door and find a coat closet, with out caring I go into the closet and lock the door. "Oh my god! What's wrong with me! I can't be falling for him all over again! Can I? No! Never! Shit, this can't be happening! What the hell is my problem? I've got to get out of here and soon." I say resting my head against the door. I leave the closet and walk back up to the library. Derek is sitting on the seat with his head in his hands. I walk over to him quietly and look at the page he's on. I gasp. The last page has one photo of us on it. It was us at the party a year earlier. Derek's head snaps up and he shuts the book. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have scared you like that." I say still in shock. "No, um it's ok." He says putting the book away and walking out. I follow him. He goes down the hall and enters his bedroom, but stops short. "The guest bedroom is 2 doors to the left and across the hall." He says before walking into his room and locking the door.

I go down the hall and enter the room. It has some of my old stuff in it. "Ooh my old CDs!" I say flipping through the CDs. I grab a Gwen Stefani CD and go over to the player, when I open it I see there is already a mix CD in it. "Wonder what's on it." I say before closing the lid and hitting play. Sweet Escape starts to play. I start to dance. After Sweet Escape ends Ultimate begins. _This order seems familiar. _I think. I look over at the bookshelf. It's a mess! "Maybe I can fit some cleaning in." I say walking over to the bookcase. _Let's see I'll put this one here and that one there and then match the rest up by height, then there's the CDs I can put on the bottom shelf and… Hey Juliet… um oh yeah, and then I can organize the trinkets and… I think your fine… ugh where was I, right, and then I'll clean the desk… I know you__ really__ want me I hear friends talk about me… shit! I know this CD! _"Dasey's mix!" I gasp. I finish the CD and look at the time 6:00. I leave the room and walk down the hall to Derek's room. I knock no answer. I know again and then put my ear to the door. Derek is playing Every Time We Touch on his guitar. I knock louder this time. The music stops and the door opens, "Yes?" "Um… I don't have anything to sleep in." I say blushing. "Here," he says throwing me one of his shirts, "Oh, what do you want for dinner?" "It's okay, your letting me stay here so the least I can do is make you one meal." I say walking away. I go back into my room and change into his shirt before heading down to the kitchen.

I finally finished dinner after 2 and ½ hours of slaving of a hot stove I set the food on the table and light the candles I placed in the center. "Dinner's done!" I yell up the stairs. Derek comes running down the stairs, "What did you make?" he asks. "Hmm… let's see I made some meatballs and rice, and my famous beef stew." I say grinning. "You made my favorites." He says. "Oh I know." I say walking away. The dining room is dimly lit and our mix CD is playing in the background, there are rose petals on the table along with the maple scented candles, and a chilling bottle of wine. "I'll be back." I say, "Don't touch any of the food!" I run upstairs.

I open the guest closet, it has some of my old clothes in it. I find my satin red strapless dress with a silk ribbon along the top and red strappy heels. I put my hair up in a matching silk ribbon and apply a little make up. I run down the stairs and through a back entrance to the kitchen. As I walk in Juliet is playing. "Hey, Derek," I say. He turns his head and his eyes bug out. "Okay, let's eat," I say going in to the kitchen to get the glasses for the wine. As I come back in Derek is singing the chorus to Juliet. I smile and set the glasses down. We sit and listen to the music for awhile. I eat my meatballs, rice, and stew, Derek is staring at me. "Um Derek, could you please not stare at me?" I ask kindly. He looks down, "Sorry." "It's okay." I reply. "This is good." He says still looking at his food. "Thanks," I say smiling at him. The rest of dinner was completely silent aside from the music that played. As I'm taking the last bite of my food Derek stands up and walks over to me, "My I have this dance?" he asks as My Heart Will Go On comes on. I nod and he takes my hand lifting me up from my seat. He pulls me close to his chest as we begin to sway with the music. I lift my arm and place them around his neck and his arms snake around my waist. I burry my head in his chest and we dance.


	5. Chapter 4 After The Dance

Derek and I had danced for a long time the night before and now we sit on the couch. The TV is going, but I don't think he's watching either. Have I fallen for him again? Yeah. Why, why again? "Casey?" Derek asks. "Hmm," I reply coming out of my thoughts. "Want to go out and get some breakfast?" he asks. I nod, "Let me go get changed." I run up the stairs to the guest room and into the closet. I pick out one of my old jean mini skirts, a blue toga top (You know those tops that are long sleeve but the top of the sleeves are spilt and then connect by strings) with a white rose on it, and matching blue ribbon tie wedge heals. I slip my hair into a curled bun with blue beads in it. I clasp my silver hoops and apply a light coat of lip gloss. I head down stairs. Derek is standing at the foot of the stairs. "Are you ready?" he asks. "Yeah, let's go." I say walking to the front door. Derek opens the door for me and then opens my car door too. In my seat is a blindfold. "Put it on," he says. I look at him for a minute. I slowly lift the blindfold to my face a put it on. Derek starts the car and we begin to move. With in 20 minutes the car stops and I feel Derek grasp my hand and lead me out of the car. "Just a few more steps," he says, "… Okay take off the blindfold and open your eyes." I open my eyes and see that we're at my favorite diner: _Dance_. We entered and were seated with in minutes. "So, what'll it be?" a young waiter asks. "Two hash browns and chili." Derek says look at me. I grin. "And what to drink?" the waiter asks. "Two cinnamon lattes," I say. The waiter winks at me and walks off. "Derek, did you see that?" I ask nervously. Derek nods, "I have an idea, just go with the flow." He takes off his class ring and slips it on my left ring finger. As the waiter comes back with our food Derek says, "So babe where are we having our honeymoon?" "Oh, I don't know, Jamaica or Hawaii, what do you think?" I reply. "Jamaica sounds nice." Derek says with a grin and gives me a kiss on the cheek. The waiter roughly sets the food on the table and walks off. I laugh. We eat our meal and then leave.

Now we are sitting in the game room doing nothing. "I'm bored," Derek complains. I look out the window, "Yeah, me too. Maybe I should head home." "I guess." He says. "I'll go get my stuff, can you call a cab?" I ask getting up and heading for the door. "I'll take you home." He says. "Are you sure?" I ask. "Yeah," He replies, "just let me get changed." I nod and go to do the same. What to wear? Ooh, I know! I slip into a pair of jeans with a hole in the thigh, a black strapless top that is tight around the top and fans out at the bottom, and my 3 inch black leather boots. I pull my hair back into a ponytail and put a black velvet bangs holder (you know throws things that you push back in your hair) and throw on a pair of black teardrop earrings. I apply some pink blush, black eyeliner, gray eye shadow, mascara, and dark red lipstick. Okay I'm ready. I leave my room the same time Derek walks out of his. Again his eyes bulge out. I grin and walk down the hall. I grab my purse from the couch and throw Derek his keys. "Ready?" I ask. Derek nods and opens the door for me. I walk out and down to the car Derek had already been down there a put the top down, so I just sit on the outside of the car and swing my legs over. Derek comes down the walk a few minutes later and gets in the car. Derek turns on the radio and the song I Wanna Love You begins to play. I begin to sing. Derek looks over at me.

As we pull up to my apartment building we see fire trucks and other emergency vehicles. I look over at Derek. He doesn't turn his head or even send me a side glance; he just stares at the road. We make the final turn, which gives us a full view of the building. Flames are peeking through the window of my apartment and Emily's too. Smoke is all around the building. "Damn it!" I say. We pull up to one of the cop cars. "What happened here?" Derek asks putting his arm around me. "There was a fire." The cop says looking at Derek like he's stupid. "Do you know what caused the fire?" Derek tries. "I'm sorry that information is confidential to anyone who doesn't have isn't a resident." The cop says. "I live in apartment 309." I say pulling out my key and handing it to him. He calls the landlord over to verify. "Casey!" Katy Fort, the landlord, says. "Hey Katy," I say, "Can you tell us what happened?" "It appears that 'someone' also known as Sam or so we think, set fire to your apartment. Emily was in her apartment at the time the fire spread to her. She's down at the hospital." Katy says. I look at Derek with misty eyes and without a word he switch's gears to reverse and pulls out of the parking lot.

With in 10 minutes we're pulling up to the hospital. "I'll go find I park spot you go ahead and find Emily." Derek says. I get out of the car and race through the doors. "Casey, don't you have the weak off?" Diane asks. "I'm here to find Em." I say. "Oh Emily," Diane says looking down. "Oh Emily what," I ask nervously. "Go talk to Marcus at the ICU." Diane replies. I push through a group of people and run down the stairs to the ICU. "Marcus, where's Emily?" I ask out of breath. "Down the hall 5th door on your right," He says. I take off down the room I was directed to. As I grab the knob to the door a hand grasps my other hand. I look over to see Derek. I smile a little and open the door. "Oh my god," I gasp and brake into tears. Derek turns me to face him and holds me close. Is he crying? I feel water hit the top of my head. Emily is lying in the bed, her burns aren't that bad, but it's obvious she's in a coma.

Was stayed with Emily for 15 minutes before I complete broke down and Derek had to carry me to the car. I'm laying in the back seat now. Derek is pulling up to his house. We've stopped. "Hey Casey, you think you can get up to the house or do you need me to carry you?" He asks with concern. "I think I can get there, but can you walk with me?" I reply. He nods and helps me out of the car. My knees are weak and shaky. Derek looks at me. I stumble a little. He scoops me up and takes me to the front door, which he puts me down to unlock and then carries me in and lays me on the couch. "Thanks," I say giving him a smile. "Want to watch a movie?" He asks me pulling up a chair. "Sure, what do you want to watch?" I ask. He gets up and walks over to the movie cabinet, pulls something out; puts it in the DVD player and Hitch pops up on the screen. I grin at him. He sits down in the chair. I move my legs and nudge him with my foot, when he looks at me I pat where my feet were and finish sitting up. Derek moves next to me.

The movie ends and Derek and I don't move. "Are you okay now?" he asks. I nod at look at him. "So…" he says. I move up next to him, "Derek? Where am I going to stay? My apartment is burnt to a crisp!" I cry. "Stay with me Casey." Derek replies.

"I couldn't!"

"Yes, you could."

"No I can't you don't get it!"

"Just forget about any reason's could can't and just fallow your gut!"

"Hello I don't do…" I was cut off by Derek's lips. I lean into him and kiss back. God I have wanted this for so long! It feels so good to kiss him again. Everything I that happened today is gone, Derek is all that matters.

Minutes later we brake away. "Casey," he says. "Case," I correct. "Case, I'm sorry I shouldn't have…" I kiss him. "Shut up! What should you have done? Fulfill my on going fantasy?" I ask. All he does is search my eyes to see if I'm telling the truth. "Am I dreaming?" He asks. "I could pinch you." I say. "No, if I am, I don't want to wake up." He says looking me in the eyes. He leans in and gives me a hard kiss.


End file.
